Energy Department Dismantles Major Biden-Era Offices, Shifts Focus to Nuclear, Fossil Fuels

In a major internal reorganization, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is dismantling several offices that played key roles in the Biden-era push to transition the nation away from fossil fuels, according to a revised organizational chart, released Nov. 20.

The chart shows that the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) and the Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations (OCED) are gone, and offices focusing on nuclear power, hydrocarbons, and fossil-fuel deployment are elevated to replace them.

EERE has long been one of the DOE’s largest program offices. Over the past decade, it oversaw tens of billions of dollars in research and development for wind and solar power, advanced batteries, energy-efficient buildings, and new-energy car technologies. The department has not yet announced how much, if any, of the office’s work may be reassigned under the new structure.

OCED, created in 2021, managed large demonstration-scale projects involving hydrogen, carbon capture, industrial decarbonization, advanced nuclear reactors, and long-duration energy storage. Its most high-profile project is perhaps the $3.5 billion Regional Direct Air Capture Hubs program, which aimed to build facilities across the country capable of removing at least one million tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere each year.

Some OCED-funded projects are still in early stages of development. The DOE did not immediately respond to a request for more information over their fate following the organizational overhaul.

Several other offices established in the Biden years also disappeared from the chart. Among them are the Grid Deployment Office, which worked to upgrade the nation’s power lines and sought to boost the domestic battery industry; and the Office of State and Community Energy Programs, which supported state-level energy-efficiency initiatives.

In place of those offices, the DOE introduced several newly named or consolidated units, including a new Office of Hydrocarbons and Geothermal Energy, a renamed Office of Fusion, and a rebranded Loan Programs Office now listed as the Office of Energy Dominance Financing.

The DOE said the changes are aligned with President Donald Trump’s “energy dominance” agenda.

“Thanks to President Trump’s leadership, the Energy Department is aligning its operations to restore commonsense to energy policy, lower costs for American families and businesses, and ensure the responsible stewardship of taxpayer dollars,” Energy Secretary Chris Wright said in a statement.

“These changes will help us better execute the DOE mission of delivering affordable, reliable, and secure American energy for the American people.”

Over the past month, the Trump administration has canceled or suspended billion of dollars in federal funding for more than 200 clean energy projects that it said would be a waste of taxpayer dollars. Those projects were mostly greenlit by the Biden administration as part of its broader agenda to address climate change.

In May, the DOE terminated $3.7 billion in awards for companies developing technologies to curb greenhouse gas emissions, including carbon-capture projects for natural gas and cement plants. In October, Wright canceled another $7.5 billion for 223 energy projects, many of which he said had been “rushed through” in the final months of the Biden administration without completing all required paperwork.

When it comes to climate change, Wright has made clear that he does not see it as one of the nation’s most urgent challenges, in contrast to the Biden administration, which made tackling climate change a top priority.

“Climate change is real, and it deserves attention. But it is far from the greatest threat facing humanity—that distinction belongs to global energy poverty,” Wright wrote on X in September. “If we are trusting the science: climate change is a challenge, not a catastrophe.”